Thousands without power as rain and wind continues

BBC Weather Watchers/Chris Fletcher A large wave in Penzance. There are cliffs in the background. BBC Weather Watchers/Chris Fletcher
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain on Saturday

Thousands of homes are without power, and disruption is continuing across Devon and Cornwall after more stormy weather.

On Friday, Storm Austen battered the south-west of England before moving to other parts of the UK.

On Saturday, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain from 11:00 BST until 23:00 for the South West, in association with Storm Boelo.

In Devon and Cornwall, flights and trains have been cancelled. According to the National Grid more than 1,711 properties are without power in Cornwall, and more than 2,000 in Devon.

A woman with long blonde hair. She is wearing a yellow coat. Behind her is a bar and small table with chairs. There are halloween decorations up.
Louise Martin said the cafe would be open for members of the community without power

Skybus said flights remained on hold due to adverse weather conditions, and due to a tree blocking the railway between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton the line was closed.

John Blackmore, operations director for the National Grid in the South West, said teams had been working "extremely hard in super challenging conditions" to restore power.

"The positive is until this point we restored 117,000 customers, or slightly over, and that's no mean feat," he said.

Blackmore said National Grid aimed to restore as many customers as possible by Sunday morning, but said it was "challenging".

'It's a bit miserable'

He said the company was trying to build resilience through investment.

Near Truro, the Arborist cafe, has been welcoming people who do not have power in their homes.

Louise Martin, co-owner, said: "We do this for the storms now, we did it in Storm Goretti, we've got a free tea and coffee station with water and biscuits.

"People can come down and there's no pressure to buy anything here.

She said: "You can help yourself to tea and coffee, bring a book, we've got games here... and you can charge your phones and devices, and if you want, bring flasks and things to fill up with hot water."

"It's a bit miserable being at home and being cold," she added.

A man and a woman sat side by side. They are looking at the camera. Behind them is a wall with different art work.
Julie and Andrew Le Masurier are without power

Julie and Andrew Le Masurier said they had been without power since early Friday morning and they were not expecting it to be back on until Sunday.

Julia said they had their own water supply so were unable to pump the water.

"It was a brilliant surprise to walk in here and find out that they've just got open house and free tea and coffee and stay as long as you like," she said.

"It's lovely, lovely thing to do for the community."

Linda Jane Ludlow, BBC Weather Presenter, said: "As the second storm in two days sweeps across the country, Storm Boelo is bringing some persistent rain, at times heavy, for the rest of the afternoon and then this evening we will see a band or particularly heavy and squally showers from early evening in the south west and west, clearing the region by midnight.

"The likelihood of surface water flooding, alongside gusty southwest veering northwest strong winds with gusts up to 50 mph (80 km/h) in the far southwest and 45-50mph (72 km/h - 80 km/h) in the west, will make conditions challenging for driving.

"Overnight, a weak ridge of high pressure moves in with drier conditions. Tomorrow will be drier and brighter with sunny spells but still with some gusty strong winds, which will decrease in strength throughout the afternoon."

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